As is well known, there is an airfoil member as one of the most important elements in a rotary machine. For example, an airfoil member installed on a stator side performs as a turbine vane for rectifying a working fluid. Further, an airfoil member installed on a rotor side performs as a turbine blade for recovering energy from a working fluid and imparting energy to the working fluid.
Where the above-described airfoil member is used in a high-temperature environment, it is necessary to cool the airfoil member for suppressing oxidation-caused thinning and fatigue of the airfoil member.
For example, a turbine vane described in Patent Document 1 given below is provided with an airfoil body extending in a radial direction of a turbine and an end wall which is formed at the tip end of the airfoil body to extend so as to intersect in the radial direction of the turbine. Inside the airfoil body, a serpentine channel is formed which connects in a meandering manner with a plurality of cooling channels extending in the radial direction of the turbine. Then, cooling air is allowed to circulate into the serpentine channel, thereby cooling the airfoil member.
A turbine blade which has adopted a similar cooling channel is described in Patent Document 2 given below.